Roadway.



PATENTBD PEB. 7, 1905, G. W. BAKER. ROADWAY.

A PPLIOATION FILED PEB. 17.1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905. C. W. BAKER.

ROADWAY.

APPLICATION rmsn PEB. 17.1904.

3 SHBTS-SHBET 2.

PATENTED PEB. '7, 1905.

C. W. BAKER.

ROAD WAY.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 17,1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES Patented February 7, 1905.

PATENT @Ferca CHARLES "HITING BAKER, OF MONTCLAIR. NEW JERSEY.

ROADWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,988, dated February '7, 1905.

Application filed February I7, 1904. Serial No. 194,063.

Be it known that l, CHARLES WHITING BAKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at .\Iontclair. i-n the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roadways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of a permanent way adapted for the use of the cars or cars and locomotives described in my application, Serial No. 181,682, filed November 18, 1903, said cars and locomotives havingl wheels at their center adapted to run upon a rail and arranged to carry the principal weight of the vehicle and said vehicle being kept balanced upon said central wheels by auxiliary wheels at the sides adapted to run upon flat bearings or the ground and which may be similar to ordinary vehiclewvheels. In said locomotive system also the traction is secured by horizontal driving-wheels gripping the sides of the rail-head.

In the drawings, Figure I is a plan of a roadway embodying my improvement. Fig. Q is a cross-section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged crosssection of the rail used, showing also the form of rail-joint employed; Fig. 4I, a side elevation of Fig. 3. Fig. is an enlarged plan of a turnout. Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan of the portable frog used at turnouts. Fig. T is an elevation of the frog shown in Fig. 6.

As shown in Figs. l and 2, the permanent way consists of a. single rail R laid in the center of the road-bed and suitably supported on a longitudinal stringer S or by other suitable means, together with paved paths p p in the road-bed, one at each side of and equidistant from the central rail It, said paths being adapted to constitute bearings for the balancingwhcels of the vehicles. These paths may be paved with a variety of materials, according to local circumstances; but ordinarily they will consist. of a narrow strip of macadam or telford construction so laid that its finished surface will be even with the general surface of the road-bed. The surface between the central rail and the paved strips I prefer to have slightly sloping' each way from the center to secure drainage, and in order to prevent dust and wash I prefer to cover it either with a growth of' grass, as indicated at u, Fig. 2,

or a coating of gravel or broken stone, as shown at lVhcre it is desired to have the road-bed used by ordinary vehicles as well as those running on the central rail, all or part of the remainder of the road-bed between or outside of the paved strips y) p may be also paved or surfaced in any desired manner.

As the traction in my system is preferably produced through g'ripping the sides of the rail by horizontal driving-wheels, itbecomes important to malte the railhead with vertical sides of considerable width to give ample bearing area for the gripping driving-wheels. I therefore prefer to depart `from the usual standard form of T-rail section and to use a rail having deep side faces, as with a head nearly square in crossscction. The height of the rail may also be reduced from the usual standard, since the rail is continuously supported on the longitudinal stringer S and not necessarily on the cross-ties in the usual manner.

As the traction of the driving-wheels upon the rail tends to slide it longitudinally or cause creeping, I attach each rail firmly to the supporting-stringer S by any suitable means, as by screw-bolts c c, at some pointin its length, so as to prevent such longitudinal movement, and to prevent the stringer itself from being moved endwise I provide it with wings m, secured thereto and buried in the ground. For instance, I spike projecting cross-pieces to the sides or bottom of thc stringer, as shown.

As the treads of the driving-wheels preferably roll against the sides of the rail-head and their lianges project below, as shown in dotted lines, it is not practicable to use the ordinary fish-joint of the angle-bar type. In its place I use a rail-joint which is mainly below the rail and clamps the foot or base of the rail only. As shown in Figs. i) and I, the joint is arranged in a recess .r of the stringer and consists of a pair of plates (I (I with the hookfianges /t /t at the top, formed to fit the foot flanges of the rail, and plain flangcsff at the bottom, which afford a bearing on the face of the stringer. A single bolt f at the center draws these two plates together. The stringer S has preferably an inclined face y/ where 1t is cut out, so that a wedge W, driven beneath IOO the feet of the joint-plates, serves as a bearing and means of adjustment. Thus the joint gives support to the rail ends besides acting as a splice.

The turnouts in my roadway system are in general similar in principle to the stub-switch in use on ordinary railways. There is amoving rail V, Fig. 5, which is shifted to either side to aline with either the main-line rail K or the rail T, leading to the siding. The throw of the switch, however, is necessarily made great enough so that the horizontal driving-wheels can pass through the switch without striking the opposite rail. To enable the balancingwheels to cross the rail, I may either leave an opening w at the point where the wheels will cross it or use a portable frogor bridge-such, for instance, as shown in Figs. 6 and T-with inclines jj and recesses g to receive the rails, whereby the wheels are led on the inclines up and over the rails and down on the opposite side.I It will be evident that this frog can be placed on either rail of the turnout to suit the position of the switch.

While I have referred to my improved roadway, especially in connection with a construction in which the cars are driven by motors and provided with drive-wheels, it will be evident that it is applicable to other modes of propulsion-as, for instance, when the cars are drawn by animals or by a traveling cable.

Vithout limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts shown, I claim- 1. A permanent roadway comprising a roadbed having parallel paved bearing-strips forming paths in the road, and a cent-ral rail, substantiallv as described.

2. In a railway adapted for the use of locomotives having horizontal driving wheels gripping a central rail, the combination with a rail, of a supporting-Stringer having a recess, a rail-joint consisting of clamping-plates for clamping the foot of the rail and a holt for drawing the plates together, the clampingplates being located in the recess in the Stringer and supporting and engaging the foot of the rail, substantially as described.

3. In a railway adapted for the use of locomotives having horizontal driving wheels gripping a central rail, the combination with a rail, of a supporting-Stringer having a recess with an inclined base, a rail-joint clamping the foot of the rail and located in said recess, and a wedge interposed between the railjoint and inclined base of the stringer, substantially as described.

4. In a sing'le-rail railway system adapted to vehicles having central wheels and balancing-wheels; a turnout consisting of a movable rail, stationary switch-rail and main rails, and a portable incline for passing' the balancingwheels over either rail, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES WHITING BAKER.

fitnessesz M. N. BAKER, F. E. SCHMITT. 

